Safety cranking device.



- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\ ROLAND C. HILTON, OFVQUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NOR TO HILTON MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A. CORPORATION F MASSA- CHUSETTS.

l Specification of Letters Patent.

SAFETY CRANKING DEVICE. i

PatentedJan. 9, 1912.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ROLAND C. HILTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Quincy, county of Norfolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Safety @ranking Devices, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to'lcranking devices for internal combustion en ines and has for one of its objects to provioe a novel cranking device in which the means for connecting the crank handle to, and disconnecting it from, the starting crank shaft, or other shaft of the engine, aire located within the crank handle so that to apply the device to an automobile or motor boat does not require the use of extra attachments or brackets to be secured to the frame, but merely involves the application of my improved crank handle directly to the shaft.

Another object of my invention is to provide a' novel cranking device in which the crank handle is normally disconnected from the shaft on which it is supported,but which is provided with means ywhereby said crankhandle will be automatically connected to 90 the shaft by a turning movement of the crank handle in one dlrection.

Another object of theinvention is to provide a crank handle which will'be automatically disconnected from the shaft, thereby 35 permitting the shaft to rotate freely in either direction, by a backward movement of the crank handle or a movement yin the opposite direction to that which couples the crank handle to the shaft.

40 Still another object of the invention is to provide a construction whereby the automatic coupling of the crank handle to the shaft may be secured by a turning movement of the handle portion thereof.

Other objects of the invention will be more fully hereinafter described and then pointed out .in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure lis a sectional view of a crank handle embody- 50 ing my invention said view showing the starting crank shaft and a portion of the engine shaft; Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line -m, Fig. l, showing the normal position of the parts with the crank handle disconnected from the shaft; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the crank handle connected to the crank shaft; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the crank handle. y

8 designates an engine shaft of an internal combustion engine, such as may be used for driving an automobile, motor boat or for some other purpose, and -i designates a starting crank shaft which is journaled in suitable bearings 5 and which is provided with the usual clutch 6 adapted to engage a corresponding clutch 7 on the engine shaft. These parts may be of any suitable or usual construction and form no part of my present invention. i

Carried by the starting crank shaft is a crank handle which involves a crank arm 9 and a handle portion 10. This crank handle i's normally disconnected from the starting crank shaft, that is, is loosely mounted thereon so that the shaft can rotate in either direction relative to the crank handle. 'The crank handle is so constructed, however, that a turning movement thereof in a direction adapted to start the engine will automatically couple ,said crank handle to the shaft so that the `engine will be started inthe usual way, whileifl a back kick should occur or for any other reason the crank handle should be turned backwardly slightly, said crank handle will become automatically disconnected from the starting crankshaft., thus permitting the engine shaft torotate freely in either direction without giving any movement to the crank handle. The crank handle may be mounted directly on thestarting 4shaft 4: or may be mounted on a head l1 secured to the shaft, the latter being the constructibn herein shown. The arm 9 of the crank handle is provided with the eye or loop portion 1.1.2 which embraces the head 11 and is ,held

Vthereto in some suitable way, as by'means ot' veniently be, and preferably is, ysituated within the crank arm 9, the latter being provided with a central bore in which the end against a collar ment herein shown the cra "a boss -21 formed onthe cra 'mounted on the pin 19 is a'sle associated therewith a bushing l23 provided with aconicalportion 24. Projecting laterj adapted to engage the en v mally tends to move the arm into the positurned freely either the crank arm to th 'member 15 is thrown given to the crank handle in starting the en- -`turned andi therebyI 'projectv tlhef'looking member. into its operative positron'. "T he* handle.` 10 is loosel 22 and'is provide A the bushing 4one end against the ha inwardly locking member is received. Said locking member is normally maintainedin its inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 2, by means of a spring 16 which is received in a recess-1n the crank handle and'bea-rs at one, or pin 17 carried by the locking member.

I have herein shown the'head 11 asprovided with a plurality of flattened portions 18 adapted to be engaged by the end of the locking member l5 when the latter-is projeeted, as yshown in Fig. 3, thereby to lock e head. The locking yforward into locking posit-ion by the turning movement of the handle lO'and'the Aarrangement is such that the turning movement which is vnaturally gine operates to throw said locking member into its operative position. 'In the embodin kv arm 9 has eX- tending therefrom a pin 19 on which the handle.10 is loosely mounted. This p in -is shown as screw-threaded at one end,-as atv 20, and said screw-threaded end is screwed into nk arm.y vLoosely eve 22 having ally from thesleeve and busliingis an arm d 'o'f the locking membeiil whenlthe sleeve 'and bushing are y mountedjen" the sleeve d vWithV 'an'interio'r conical. surface 26 adapted tofit the co'ni'calsiirface 24.1 A pawl and ratchet device is situated between i the bushing 23 and the handle 10. whiohpermits the-handle to rotate freely inlonefdi'rof* tion relative to the sleeve, but prevents retation thereof in the opposite direction.5T his, pawl and ratchet device'may convenientlybe in the form o f balls 27 that are confined partially, in tapering recesses 28 formed in 23 and partially in a groove'29 formed in the handle. A spring 30 bears. at ndle and at the other end against aflange 31 formed on the sleeve 22 and tends vnormally to keep the conical friction surfaces 24 and 26 in engagement. A spring 33 acts againstthearm 25 and nortion shown in lig.` 2`. Each. ball '27 is acted on by a spring 32, as shown.

When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the shaft 4 and the head 11 may be direction without givlng movement to the crank handle. W hen it is desired to crank the engine, the operator grasps the handle 10 and pushes o'r to the left Fig. l in usual manner in order-to bring the clutches 6 and 7 into engagement and then turns thev crank forward in usual manner. When the operthe direction of the locked. to the handle'.

- will act to retract th'e'l Qing. the crank arm fr .movement ofthe arm 25 i -pawl and atchetconne thus `peri make these inclined ator begins to turn the crank forward or in arrow a, 'in Fig. 2, the grip ofthe operator on the handle 10 will naturally tend to turnsaid handle in the direction of the arrow b relative to the arm 9, and the parts are so arranged thatthis." movement of the handle will operate to throw the locking member l5 forward into its4 opera-tive position, as shown in Figi- 3,V for it will be observed that when the operator starts cranking theconical frictionsurfaces 24 and 26 are in engagement .andthe turning movementof the\l 1andle 1 0 will be Communicated therethrough to the sleeve 22 and bushing 23,' and will thu'scarry the arm 25 from the position shownin Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3.v The end of thearm is preferably beveled slightly, as at 34, and the engagement-of this beveled surface with the end of the locking member 15 will throw-it forwardly into locking engagement with e arm 25 is brought' into itsoperative position, as shown in Fig. 3, then during further'turning movement of the crank the hand-le 1 0 will Islip on the bushing 28.y Solong as t-he operator is turn ingthe crank forwardly, said crank will be W'henever the crank handle is' moved backwardly, however, the- 1 -handle 10 will be turned in the direction oppositev to the arrow b relative-to the crank arm, and during-such turning movement the arm 25 will be disengagedfromthe end of the locking member-15 and the spring 16, a-tter, thus disconnechI om the head 11. lThis s secured partly by, 3 'andpartlyby the ction between the 23. The latterv is the action -o'ifthe 'spring 3 handle` 10 and the sleeve provided the crank ar1n. su rean'd positive,- anditis so arranged, as will 'be observed, ,that a backw so as to make thedisconnectionof l ward turning movement of the .handle-.10

will grip the handle to the sleeve 23fand thus;- turn said sleeve backwt'irdly;`l4 1f, tnerefore,y a back-kick should occur, the initiallbackward movement of the crank handle willfaf.

tomaticall nit y disconnect itfrom the headll, ting the engine Vshaft to. rotate backwardl tothe crankhandle. I prefer. tom'ak'e the head 11 with the inclined surfaces 35 at the fend of each :tiattened portion 18 and, to portions at such an ative to the inclined portion 34 that s will be disconnected without any apparent backward movement to the cran-k fliandle. If at any time the operator should release his grip on the handle 10 the spring 33 will operate to throw the arm 25 into the position shown in Fig. 2,- thus allowing the crank handle to be automaticallyfdisconnected from the head 11. My improved cranking device is, therefore, a safety deangle vrel flltg y` without giving any movement any reason release his grip on the handle 10 crank shaft whether it'be a starting crank a locking member situated within the crank vice in every respect,

'connected from the head11thus preventing ment of the handle operating 'i bination with a shaft, of a crank arm there.-

v the end of the arm, a handle mounted on the spindle. for turning member situated within the crank arm, and a finger loosely mounted on the spindle and frictionally connected with the handle whereb Aturning movement of the handle will bring the finger into engagement with .the locking member thereby? to lock the crankarm to the shaft. ,i

4. In a safety crankingy device, the comfor willxnt only prevent an injury 'to the operator due to a back kick, but if the operator should for the crank handle will be automatically disany accident. Furthermore, it will be noted that the operative parts are located entirely within the crank arm and handle, andthe application of the cranking device to an engine does not involve securing to the lengine frame any auxiliary parts adapted to effectl the disengagement of the clutches 6 4and 7. The device is self-contained and the head 11 can be vreadily applied to the end of `any mounted thereon, a locking member situated from the crank arm, -a handle loosely mounted on the spindle, a sleeve also loosely mounted on the spindle and having frictional engagement with the handle, and a finger carried by the sleeve and adapted vto engage the locking member and move it into .locking position when the handle is turned.

shaft disconnected from the engine'shaft, lorA the engine shaft itself.

While I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention I do not wish to be limited to the constructional details shown.

Having fully bination with a shaft, of a crank arm loosely mount-ed thereon, a locking member situated 'within the crank arm, a spindle extending from the crank arm, a handle loosely mo-unted on the spindle, a sleeve also loosely mountedl on 'the spindle and having frictional engagement withl the handle, a finger described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is l. 'In a'safety cranking device, the c ombinationwith a shaft, of a crank arm thereon for giving turning movement thereto,

arm, a handle connected to said arm or turning movement relative thereto, a finger associated with the handle and` provided with a cam surface at its end to engage the end of the locking member, turning moveto.v carry the finger into line with the locking lmember and thereby force the latter into locking engagement with the shaft.

2. In a safety cranking device, the comt-he locking member and move it into locking-position when the handle is turned, an means to lock positively said sleeve to the handle when the latter is turned backwardly.

'6. In a safety cranking device, the combination with a shaft, of a crank arm for turning t-he shaft, a locking member situated within the vcrank arm and locking 'engagement with the shaft, a spindle extending om the crank arm, a andle loosely mounted on the spindle, a finger also loosely mounted on the spindle and adapted to engage the locking member, interposed between said finger and handle, which permits the handle to be turned in one direction independently of the finger but which locks the two together for turning movement in the opposite direction.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROLAND C. HILTON.

on forgiving turning movement thereto, a locking member situated within the crank arm, a handle connected to said arm for turning movement relative thereto, a finger associated with the handle and provided with a' cam surface at its end io engage the end of the locking member, turning movement of the handle operating to carry the finger into, line with the locking member and thereby force the latter into locking engagement with the shaft, and a spring acting on said finger to throw it out of line with the arm when the handle is released.

3. In a safety cranking device, the combination with a' shaft, of a crank arm loosely mounted thereon, a spindle extending from Witnesses:

Louis C. SMITH, FREDERICK S. GREENLEAF.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

5. In a safety cranking device, the corn-A carried by the sleeve and adapted to engage movement, a locking l bination with a shaft, of a'crank arm loosely A within the crank arm, a spindle extending adapted to have v and means 

